Join the movement!!

****Note to Linny's friends: I posted this a couple of weeks ago, and thought it would be the perfect thing to ask for prayers for! There are funding requests here from my origional posting, but please know my heart in linking this is not for that purpose---it is for your prayers for our four families as we embark on this path of trust and faith! We need that most of all!! Thank you for praying!!


So the most amazing thing is happening in our church...our church plant, LifeBridge Church, is still training our core and preparing to officially launch in the fall...and in the midst of all the business of provisional elder boards and small group ministry launches and an AWESOME Easter service on Clearwater Beach and building our core and all the ministries that are taking shape...we are sensing a movement.

A movement that can only be God.

In the last week, two families announced that they too would be adopting from Ethiopia. That brings us to a total of four families adopting 5 kids! All from our young church! It is amazing! Erica wrote a bit about it here, and I invite you to go read her story.

So we are all at slightly different points in our process, but we are all basically working through the first round of paperwork.

I want to invite you to stop by their blogs, say hi, and pray for us all. The need is great. There's gonna be t-shirt sales, facebookathons, and all of us have PayPal buttons on our blog. Let me introduce everyone:


You already know the Waulks, who applied to adopt at the same time we did! They recently decided to adopt TWO children! Woohoo! Two for one---(reminds me of having twins)---I love it!! They are planning a pitching camp and raising their funds for their homestudy and dossier. Stop by and say hi here! Let's help them bring home their babies!!


Next, you met the Shubins here on one of my first posts. They were instrumental in God directing our desire to adopt towards the country of Ethiopia. They brought Silas home 2 years ago. And they are going back!! This time for a little girl!! Erica has devoted countless hours towards helping others prepare and fund-raise for their adoptions. And now we get a chance to return the favor! Visit their blog here! They are selling off extra mission trip shirts and holding a facebook-athon this week!


And then there's the Masers. A beautiful family with a wonderful story and HUGE hearts. God has called them out of their comfort zone, and they are responding in faith and obedience! You can get a glimpse into their journey here. They are fundraising right now for their application fee and homestudy--and every little bit helps!!

These are my buddies and I am so excited to be walking this road with them!

As for the Walser clan.....

Our homestudy paperwork should be finalized in the next few weeks, and so we are ready to begin our next round of paperwork as well as our next round of fundraising. There are actually two things we will be fundraising for in the next couple of months, and two different approaches (details on the second round will be coming soon...). The first one begins TODAY! I am trying to liquidate our t-shirts to raise the money we need for our I600A. If you're wondering what that is, you're not alone. I'm not exactly sure either--but it has something to do with US immigration paperwork for our child--and what I DO know is that it costs $830.

SO the goal is to sell 40 shirts in the next 10 days!

We have awesome "Love with Abandon" shirts...for ladies, guys, and kiddos too! Here's the write up from my original post on the shirts...

Each of our shirts read:

"Love with abandon, Love an orphan."

We believe we have been given so much love, from the Lord and within our home, that it is overflowing. And we want to live lives that love without restraint, without inhibitions, without safety nets...we want to love with abandon. Because that's how we feel we have been loved by our heavenly Father, "who did not spare His own Son, but...with Him, freely gives us all things." (Rom. 8:32) We want to challenge those who are considering adoption but have held off because of fear, finances, the "right time", whatever....to "just do it"!! Take a leap of faith, and trust the Lord to work it out!

The scripture reference "(Matt. 25:40)" on the shirt is a reminder to all of us, that whether we are called to adopt personally or not, we are ALL called to love the least of these.

We have a limited stock left of these shirts, and so I'm letting you know how many I have and in which sizes, so you can be sure to snatch yours up right away if you see your size in jeopardy!

Ladies cream:
Small- 1 left!
Medium- 15
Large- 13
XL- 2

Adult brown:
Small- sold out!
Medium- 3
Large- 7
XL- sold out!

Kids brown:
XS (4/5)- 4
S (6)- 4
M (7/8)- 4
L (10/12)- 4

Girl's brown:
S (6)- 2 left!
M (8)- 4
L (10)- 3

ALL money from the sales goes directly to our adoption costs. So grab yours today, for you or someone you think would enjoy it! Mother's Day...Father's Day...No-special-reason-except-you're-an-awesome-kid's day!...it works for them all! For further details, photos, and sizing information, go here. Or purchase now to the right.

Are you willing to post a link on your blog or on FB? That would help a ton! I would appreciate it! Let's see what God can do in 10 days!

Pray for us, if you would, and join in where you can! We are grateful to have you be a part of rescuing these children and bringing them home to their forever families!!